Steve Smith of the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology was part of an international team of researchers  who undertook the first characterisation of MHC genes in fishes of the family Percichthyidae, many of which show a decline in population size and are subjected to management and recovery actions including translocations and captive breeding. MHC genes are central to the adaptive immune response in vertebrates and are also implicated in mate choice and inbreeding avoidance. The Percichthyidae, or temperate perches, is an ancient and diverse family that dominates the temperate freshwater fish fauna of Australia and includes species of recreational and conservation concern (e.g. cods, pygmy perches). The four species studied were the river blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus), the Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica), and the southern and the Yarra pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis and Nannoperca obscura, respectively). The study showed that the species, ecotypes, and populations are likely adapted to their distinct parasite fauna, a process that might have contributed to the divergence observed within percichthyid species. Including adaptive markers such as the MHC in future studies is expected to strengthen the chance of success for conservation management programs by providing researchers with information about genetic diversity that directly impact offspring fitness.

The article “Characterization of MHC class IIB for four endangered Australian freshwater fishes obtained from ecologically divergent populations” by Seraina Bracamonte, Steve Smith, Michael Hammer, Scott Pavey, Paul Sunnucks, and Luciano Beheregaray was published online in June 2015 in the journal Fish & Shellfisch Immunology.

(Web editor, 10 August 2015)

Animals with large brains are generally considered to be more intelligent and more successful than those with smaller brains. Alexander Kotrschal and fellow researchers from the Vetmeduni Vienna and Stockholm University have now provided the first experimental evidence that large brains provide an evolutionary advantage. In their study, large-brained female fish had a higher survival rate than those with small brains when faced with a predator, although brain size surprisingly did not influence male survival. The results were published in the prestigious journal Ecology Letters.

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(Web editor, 22 May 2015)

During courtship and mating male house mice (Mus musculus) emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), which are surprisingly complex and contain features of bird song. The discovery that male mice produce ‘silent songs’ has spurred much interest in this behaviour, and USVs are rapidly becoming an important model for vocalization research.  Dustin Penn and his students at the Konrad-Lorenz Institute of Ethology conducted the first studies on the USVs of wild house mice and found that females are attracted to male songs and that they prefer the calls of non-siblings to those of kin. Spectral analyses showed that males’ USVs are individually distinctive.  In this new project, Dustin Penn and Sarah Zala aim to determine what kind of information is transmitted in males’ complex vocalizations and whether they influence females’ behaviour. Their findings will have implications for sexual selection and animal communication, and may help determine whether vocalizations provide a non-invasive trait for diagnosing disease, genetic speech defects, and animal welfare.

The three- year project was recently approved for financing by the  Austrian Science Fund FWF  (Project P 28141).

(Web editor, 18 May 2015)

A male’s attractiveness lies not only in his physical appearance. This is true for people as well as for animals. Scent plays an important role for many creatures when it comes to choosing a mating partner. Female mice show preferences for the scent of healthy males and yet surprisingly they choose unhealthy males just as often as mating partners. This was shown by scientists from the Vetmeduni Vienna. Mating choice is therefore not based solely on odor. The study was recently published in the journal  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

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(Web editor, 13 March 2015)